Model Ward 93 - Palace Road Focus

Friday, 11 December 2020

Mr Manjunath Prasad

BBMP Commissioner/Nodal Officer Ward 93

Bangalore

Dear Mr Prasad:

Sub: Palace Trail - Showcase Palace Road in Ward 93 (similar to Church Street) as part of Model Ward Initiative

Thank you for the excellent suggestion in the previous ward committee meeting. The Palace Pearl Trail could be an interesting and visible idea for Vasant Nagar Model Ward plan, in addition to the other more infra based issues that need attention. As we discussed , Palace Road already has a number of sights and heritage highlights so it would be a great start. It would require a very simple set of basics on which we can build additional layers as required or as it grows. Essentially the space from 1 Palace Road right up to Bangalore Palace becomes one single heritage stretch.

We would need to focus on :

• · Walkability – we already have wide roads. Pavements and accessibility to be improved

• · Easy cycling – Paths where possibly else a drawn cycling lane to help. Parking bays

• · Accessible sign boards which have a barcode history of the specific place and its background

• · Coordination with stakeholders like DULT , Horticulture (MOUs in place), Major Roads, Smart City, Janagraha, P&T, Tourism etc who become part of this exercise, given their interest, expertise & focus.

• · Coordination with multiple agencies like BWSSB, Bescom etc to ensure that maximum Ideas and impact

• · Bring in public participation via technology (FlipAR) also so people can move at own pace

• · Create more ownership, pride, better footfalls, economic opportunities and better maintained area.

• · Places of interest – perhaps with tech enabled digital postcards

1. o Beau Lieu - Fairmont House , Post Office

2. o Carlton House

3. o Karnataka Public Service Comm Office

4. o Accountant General Office

5. o Unusual Muneswara Temple opp Hazrat Syed Mosque

6. o Basaveshwara Statue, Circle and History (sidestep left onto Race Course Rd {with West End, BwSSB Valve room, Poorna Prasad} or turn right to Vidhana Soudha , Raj Bhavan & Cubbon Park )

7. o Balabrooie (At right Planetarium, Military Park, IG Fountain Park , at further right Registrar Of Coop Society Office, Police Commr Office and Bungalow)

8. o BWSSB heritage Office on Millers Rd (can step backwards to Police Supdt Office on Millers Rd )

9. o Chief Secretary Bungalow, Hanuman Temple

10. o NGMA (Can go right CCIE on right at Cunningham Rd, straight ahead to Seventh Day Adventist Church) )

11. o Move into Bangalore Palace with full heritage walk.

By starting with the first two points and building up as we go along, I think we would have a wonderful visible crown to our Model Ward. We should just start quickly and build from there. I would be happy to discuss this with you in more detail so we can move forward on this first-of-a-kind Model Ward Initiative.

Thanking You

Yours Sincerely

Priya Chetty-Rajagopal

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Ward level Heritage Manifesto

Places matter.

Heritage comprises built, natural and cultural history and it is the duty of the city and its governance, particularly the most microscopic yet most powerful platforms i.e. the Ward Committee to preserve, promote and protect it. Some small funds should also be set aside for education and promotion with others like the Tourism Department. Wards & Corporators have to look at #Heritage along the following lines :

Listing : This is key to any form of ward level heritage preservation. The RMP31 has a listing of all the heritage spaces in the city. The wards should sort the heritage sites applicable to THEIR ward and ensure the concerned authorities are formally aware of the same. Special Heritage zones declared by BBMP should be specifically listed. Students can do this as a school project.

Awareness: Every attempt should be made to have detailed information, write ups and detailing on these heritage spaces, so that the ward and community are made aware of the rich history around their homes. Public information and historians particularly informal storytellers in the community/ward should be encouraged. This further reinforces a sense of belonging.

Protection : A historian, civic minded official can be selected the Ward Heritage Marshall so there is accountability and proper ownership - we are sure that this position will be aspirational. It is also critical for the wards to make all provision with organizations like Intach #HeritageBeku ASI and PWD to ensure that the heritage spaces in the world are protected against disuse, disrepair, vandalism, defacement, interference, encroachment and spatial incongruity. Once the comprehensive list is available , ward committees should do everything they possibly can to ensure they proactively and assertively protect the same. Keeping BBMP and other parastatals posted about the location and preservation needed is important. Any heritage breach should be dealt with strongly and penalties be stringently invoked, so that there is awareness and a strong message on respect for heritage.

Promotion: Each ward must take great pride in the history that is resident by ensuring regular walks, proper signage interface with local schools and colleges, working with RWAs, apartment associations to be guardians or sponsors of each space. Heritage Government offices should have a once in a month walkthrough to help residents appreciate and support it. Children are key.

Integration : The very character of the ward lies imbued in the heritage of each space. Creating spaces around that meld and integrate with the heritage character of its history adds value and tremendous increase in the ward ownership and pride. Given that the spaces of history come from different spaces, religions and perspectives it is a natural way to integrate the community in a more holistic and meaningful way. It can create funding opportunities for the ward too – tourism, guided walks etc .

Restoration & Upkeep : Without scientific upkeep and restoration valuable Heritage can quickly disintegrate irrevocably. Leaning on experts in organisations like #HeritageBeku , ASI & Intach historians and involving government is important. The need to ensure it is done as per global standards will not only ensure a greater sense of community and ownership but also create more footfalls, conversations, tourism and related benefits to the community. PWD must keep heritage standards in work on restoration or in heritage zones. An update on each heritage location should be part of what committees quarterly reviews. They should also be listed on the Wikipedia ward details so that the public is aware.

Funds for specific heritage spaces, could be budgeted by ward , corporates, or via endowments or BBMP Heritage Corpus

Ward Awards : BBMP along with Heritage Beku to encourage applications from wards and ward Heritage marshals who have done extraordinary work in preserving, maintaining, promoting the community heritage by annual awards and special mentions.

We would also encourage Homes or institutions which preserve places of heritage should be recognized in an annual ward event every year. To conclude, annual appraisals and mapping will showcase wards who have preserved their ward heritage as well as all other ward level parameters on water, power, waste, welfare etc, and this is a much desired governance outcome

We need a Railway Museum

KARNATAKA RAILWAY HERITAGE CENTRE; NANDI HILLS

Introduction

Disregarding that imperial rule in India aided the destruction of a rich tradition in indigenous technology and scientific knowledge, it helped us to also gain access to new and emerging technologies, particularly in the transportation sector. For instance, we are proud that we have one of the oldest and most extensive railway networks in the world and that India was once the largest market for Rolls Royce cars. But this rich and relatively recent technological heritage is often overlooked by historians, architects, collectors and purveyors of art. Unfortunately, a large portion of our priceless heritage in railway locomotion and running stock, civil construction, automobiles and aircraft has been scrapped, or spirited away overseas. What remains is largely in the hands of private collectors or is fading away in dusty museums. Since 1853, the great Indian Railway has transcended not just a visible geographical boundary but also dissolved invisible layers of castes, communities, languages, and religions while connecting the length and breadth of the vast Indian sub-continent. There is an urgent need for the preservation of what remains. It is an important part of our shared history as a nation and collective memories as a culture or region.

Karnataka’s Railway Heritage

What is today Karnataka State was fragmented as parts of a diverse polity comprising of Princely States and directly administered provinces of British India. Thus, while much of the south of Karnataka was part of the Mysore State and north eastern Karnataka belonged to the Hyderabad State, Dakshina Kannada, Bellary and parts of Chamarajnagar were part of Madras Presidency, and Belgaum Division (comprising of the districts of Uttara Kannada, Belgaum, Dharwar, Haveri, Gadag, Bijapur and Bagalkot) belonged to the Bombay Presidency. This led to Karnataka’s railway network comprising of a unique and diverse range of operating systems and companies. Mysore State was served by the Mysore State Railway and the Hyderabad State by the Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway (both incorporated in 1879). The Madras Railway Company built the line from Madras to Bangalore, the Southern Mahratta Railway (incorporated in 1882) operated lines in the Bombay Presidency areas and the north eastern tip of Karnataka was touched by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. The West of India Portuguese Railway also touched the Belgaum district. Each one of these railway systems, since then absorbed into the Indian Railways, has left behind a rich legacy in terms of railway engineering. Some of the picturesque railway stations remain, but the pretty steam locomotives and rolling stock are long since gone, save for a few precious specimens that lie still in a few museums.

Nandi is located an hour from Bangalore’s periphery in a region that was once governed by many major South Indian dynasties and is therefore a hotbed of historical and heritage spaces. It is where one finds ancient temples, tanks, a rich mythological and historical heritage, a thriving natural heritage and the home of Karnataka’s beloved icon, Sir M. Visveshwaraiah. The area has also one of the last of the old Mysore State Railway’s railway stations, built in the pretty gabled style that was the signature of the civil constructions of that Railway.

There is no museum that tells the story of Karnataka’s railway heritage in a holistic way. It is proposed that a Karnataka Railway Heritage Centre will be built in the environs of the Nandi Railway station, which will form an integral part of the Centre. The Centre, which is much more than a museum, intends to focus on and preserve the rich history of Karnataka’s railway heritage. Its gallery spaces, live exhibits, outreach activities, awareness building and conservation programmes involving visitors, school children and local populations will highlight not only our rail history, but also draw attention to the local culture, recognise the contribution it has made to the history of Karnataka and build a sense of pride amongst visitors. The museum space is also intended to provide space for like-minded people interested in heritage, model making, craftsmanship to meet and interact with each other.

I.PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE – MUSEUM GALLERIES

The Centre proposes to focus on paying tribute to the great unifying force of the railways, which has been an intrinsic part of our lives for over a century.

1. The Outdoor Galleries

- The Nandibetta Light Railway- A 1:16 Garden Railway

The first outdoor display is a garden railway that is a 1:16 size replica of a real railway system that operated in Karnataka. At the outset, the ‘Nandibetta Light Railway will showcase and run miniature replicas of the Mysore State Railways now extinct Narrow Gauge system that ran from Yelahanka to Bangarpet and which touched the Nandi Station as well. Extensions of the Nandibetta Light Railway will feature working models of the meter gauge systems in Karnataka, which were once extensive, but which are now extinct.

ES-507 at Yelahanka Station on the narrow gauge line leading to Nandibetta. One of the locomotives that will be modelled in 1:16 scale for running on the Nandibetta Light Railway

- 1:4 Running Railway

The 1:4 Running Railway is a passenger carrying, live steam miniature railway that can give visitors the experience of live steam, which has now completely been given up in commercial operations in India. The system will be one fourth the size of a full scale railway system.

- Live Rolling Stock

It is hoped that in due course, the museum will be able to acquire full size locomotives and rolling stock that operated in Karnataka for display and a first hand experience by visitors, particularly children.

2. The Indoor Galleries

- Large stationary models:

The diverse railway systems that operated in the areas that became today’s Karnataka states operated a large variety of Steam and diesel locomotives. Stationary models in 1:16 scale are being planned and built by the Museum of Movement, one of the collaborators in the project. The Museum of Movement makes models in four media; metal, wood, acrylic and in paper. These will include models of locomotives pertaining to Karnataka that are preserved in various location in India, including Railway museums and those plinthed for public display. They will also include models of locomotives that no longer exist; which will be built on the basis of original engineering drawings secured from archives and enthusiasts across the world. Models are being built of iconic railway saloons and rolling stock too, including the Saloons used by the Maharajah of Mysore.

Some of the locomotives and rolling stock pertaining to Karnataka’s Railway system that will be modelled for stationary display in the indoor gallery

A YB Meter Gauge locomotive when delivered new to the Mysore State Railway (1930s) (Pic from Museum of Movement Collection)

Southern Railway Meter Gauge YP at Birur Station

A picture of the attendant’s saloon of the Mysore Maharajah’s royal train when it was first delivered.

3. Thematic displays

Thematic displays include detailed dioramas in which railway scenes are modelled, as they might have been years back. Thematic displays will cover well known railway heritage in India, including the World Heritage hill railways.

Through these displays, the story of the growth of the railways in India will be told. A great deal of painstaking research, documentation and reference to rare, historical records and photographs has already been completed for this purpose.

4. Gallery of Vanishing Cityscapes

Closely related to transportation is the physical environment within which it exists, innovates and re-invents itself. This gallery will preserve through photographs and miniature models early /original cityscapes in Karnataka before they were altered by subsequent development. This will prompt visitors to examine, reflect upon and discuss the relationship between transportation and the aesthetic-functional role of its built environment (design, place and people) in a constantly changing urban scenario.

Each gallery will be an interactive, curatorial space containing :

– Actual prototypes

– Miniature models in display cases

– A vertical visual wall – for photographs, multi-media-film/videoscreenings and installations.

– Audio equipment that will playback oral interviews and sound/audioscapes contextual to each gallery.

– Space for live, contextual curatorial events such as film screenings, photography exhibitions, audioscapes and oral interviews:

– PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE – WORK SPACES

5. LIBRARY & ARCHIVES

This space will support knowledge transfers and create documentation-archiving projects for research material (text, video and audio) in both digital and hard copy formats. The archived material will be open source and available to the public. Academics and institutions can also use the scholar-in-residence programme to initiate and complete research work that is within the museum’s areas of interest.

6. AUDITORIUM AND CONFERENCE ROOM

Built for the dissemination of knowledge through larger events - corporate off sites, school field-trips, film screenings, talks by domain experts, seminars and performances.

7. WORKSHOP

This space will be reserved for volunteer based conservation- restoration projects undertaken by the Centre. Visitors will also be allowed to watch the work-in-progress where applicable.

PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE- PUBLIC UTILITY SPACES

8. DINING AREA

This will have three themes to choose from- coach dining car, platform cafe and a formal railway refreshment room and will serve typical ‘railway’ food of Karnataka.

9. MUSEUM SHOP

This outlet will retail railway, maritime, automotive and maritime memorabilia and collectibles, local craft and merchandise (accessories, mugs, bags, mini-models, stationery, T-shirts, postcards, calendars, diaries and journals etc.)

10. RAILWAY STATION BUILDING

The historical old building of the Nandi Railway Station will be restored and used as the primary entry point to the centre. Visitors can take a train from Bangalore to the centre or visit by car. The restoration will ensure that local passengers who use the station for daily trips will not be inconvenienced; in fact the station building will be a living museum that is still providing the service for which it was built in the first place. Gallery construction will be done by architects that do not disturb the beauty of the current Station Building. It will also provide space for the museum office, public toilets, the ticket booth and the museum shop. Upon walking in, visitors will be treated to a multi-media, multi-layered sensorial experience that will include welcome announcements in the traditional train timing announcement style, audioscapes of railway memories, soundscapes from the platform including train whistles, hawkers and steam engines, life stories of railway staff and museum staff dressed in vintage railway uniforms.

The Nandi Station in 1942, in its heydays

11. OFFICE SPACE – in the Railway Station building

12. PUBLIC TOILETS-in the Railway Station building

13. TICKET BOOTH – Entry point in the Railway Station building

14. CAR PARK –Entry and exit point

II. PROGRAMMES FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT-people, myth, architecture, culture.

- Village walks and visits to local homes for local meals/beverages (tea, buttermilk, lunch) or to see traditional occupations.

- Historical walks/day trips in museum vehicles–

- Nature and adventure walks – mapping and trekking up the hills, lake, fields etc.

- Farm your food programme – work on the site and volunteer with local farming and tree planting activities.

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III. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFERS

- Scholars in residence – working on funded/personal projects

- Residential workshops by visiting experts through week days

- Partnerships with science, technology and history museums around the world.

- Exchange programmes with similar organisations around the world.

- Restoration and conservation projects

III. Execution

Physical infrastructure will be approached in phases:

Phase 1: Restoration of the Nandi Railway Station to its former glory.

Phase 2: A building in harmony with the Nandi Railway Station, built at a sufficient distance from the station so as to not mar its beauty, which will house display galleries, Ticket booth, Garden railway, Restaurant, live exhibits, retail outlet. A workshop for larger scale restoration work may be incorporated into this building, so that restoration and model making activities can commence

Phase 3: Garden Railway

Phase 4: Auditorium/Conference Room , Library & Archive

Operational infrastructure will be approached in phases :

1. Operational planning –operations and administration, land allocation, compliances, building.

2. Curatorial project and programme definitions- space and activity detailing

3. Revenue generation and funding activities – potential partnerships and detailing

4. Knowledge transfers - potential partnerships These phases will run concurrently, and certain activities may be put onto the fast track, if the environment is conducive and opportunities arise.

Design of the Museum Artefacts and Curation will be undertaken by the Museum of Movement.

The Museum of Movement is the brainchild of T. R. Raghunandan, railway enthusiast, model maker and restorer of historical artefacts. A former IAS officer of the Karnataka Cadre, Raghunandan’s activities in the direction of Railway Heritage preservation and protection include:

· Advisor to the National Rail Museum Delhi in improving displays in the museum (2008).

· Worked closely with the UNESCO and the NRM Delhi and assisting in fleshing out proposals for improving the quality and features of the Railway Museum (2008).

· Assisted the Indian Railways in undertaking the cosmetic restoration of the ‘Fairy Queen’, said to be the world’s oldest steam locomotive undertaking commercial runs. The restored Fairy Queen made its inaugural run on Republic Day 2018, and an exhibition was put up in the New Delhi Railway Station featuring the restoration process and the assistance given to the Railways by the Museum of Movement.

· Collector of railway memorabilia, artefacts. A large number of photographs, documents and artefacts ranging from railway lamps to tickets and guard and driver’s traveling trunks form part of Raghunandan’s collections.

· Model maker of highly detailed scale models of locomotives. Raghunandan’s work has been showcased in both the national and international media and he has appeared several times in the visual media to speak about his model making hobby.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/jumbo-dung-turns-toy-train-model-ex-ias-officer-s-paper-dream-picks-up-steam/cid/506769

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bengaluru-city-heritage-hack-tries-to-recreate-ye-olde-mg-road/articleshow/52218639.cms

https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/sunday-read/from-building-cardboard-models-to-a-garden-railway-and-a-transport-museum-tr-raghunandan-is-trying-to-give-the-dying-steam-engine-its-due/articleshow/62099459.cms

· Restorer of vintage cars and other artifacts: Was awarded a medal and a certificate of appreciation by the Russian Government for restoring a car that belonged to the renowned couple, actress Devika Rani and her artist husband, Svetoslav Roerich from a complete wreck to a gleaming jewel in just 3 months.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/post-war/63076-lightning-quick-restoration-48-chevy-fleetmaster.html

· Trainer in heritage conservation, preservation and protection. Has lectured to Heritage Officers of the Railways on the dos and don’ts of restoration and presented case studies on restoration of industrial heritage in international conferences.

· Archivist of Indian Railway History: Raghunandan has through his personal efforts, collected more than 130 historical blueprints and engineering drawings pertaining to the Indian Railways, from 1853 to the current date. Many of these resources pertain to Karnataka’s Railway Heritage.

· The Museum of Movement has signed an MOU with the Google Arts and Culture Project initiative and its current work on model making has been showcased by Google Arts and Culture. A virtual reality tour of the museum’s current location may be seen at:

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/museum-of-movement

A planners perspective on the Revised Master Plan 2031

The RMP 2015 was revised to frame the proposed RMP 2031 . The revisions proposed were published as Draft RMP 2031 for public suggestions and comments. It is this Draft RMP 2031 which has now been revoked by the government. The main contention is that the Draft RMP 2031 adopts the ToD approach/ principles in selective ways. The approach adopted exacerbates urban sprawl while also not advancing a shift in ridership to public transport. There are other climate change related repercussions of promoting a Plan that increases sprawl and does not support the shift to public transit. I believe it is in this vein that the GoK has asked the BDA to adopt ToD in the new plan.

As part of this effort multiple ToD zones may be delineated in the city.

As I understand there is awareness among the BDA and other departments now that a ‘place’ based approach must be pursued while delineating ToD zones. I presume that the new ToD zones will embrace variety — some forming high density-high intensity development zones, some moderate intensity- moderate density while still others low intensity-low density development. A good method requires that the intensity of development in these zones should be defined by estimating carrying capacity of each place in terms of infrastructure requirements and the feasibility to provide and manage them. But there are debates on the validity of these methods.

ToD preservation zones are inherent to this approach. This would ideally imply that heritage zones, precincts, monuments and buildings are duly recognised and valorised, while they are overlaid with a ToD boundary. An example is the VT/CST Terminal in Mumbai. Preservation of natural areas and ecologically sensitive areas/ networks is intrinsic to the BDA’s revisions as I understand.

I construe that the ToD zoning approach is not mutually exclusive in terms of the cause for heritage. But this depends on BDA’s interpretation of place based ToD - Heritage zones and the eminence it ascribes to history and heritage.

A bigger issue for the city is that the ToD zones which will now be defined will not cover all parts of Bengaluru- at least until more public transport lines are introduced. This is because ToD zones broadly have a radius of about 5 km from the transit station. Unlike Delhi and Mumbai where public transit lines cover almost the entire city in Bangalore bus and metro lines are not yet ubiquitous. So adopting ToD may exacerbate uneven development leaving out some areas from access to public transit and other civic amenities. While para transit arrangements may temporarily fill this gap, the costs of getting around will still be high for these left out areas.

I agree on the question of the MPC’s custodianship of the plan and public costs of preparing the plan again. Regardless, personally, I think revoking the Draft RMP 2031 in its current state with a mandate to support sustainable development will save our city from extended long term damage.

If the new plan goes ahead, I hope the BDA will prepare this plan through public consultation / stakeholder consultation at periodic intervals as opposed to merely displaying the new Draft Plan for public comments. Now is infact a good time to ask the BDA to take up the workshop series with various civil society groups- like they had in 2005, then under the lead of Janaagraha.

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About the author , a #HeritageBeku core team member

Champaka Rajagopal is a faculty member at Azim Premji University.

She co-teaches a course on Urban Governance and is Coordinator, Law, Governance and Policy Hub at the School of Public Policy & Governance, Azim Premji University.

She holds a Masters’ Degree in Urban Design from University of California at Berkeley, USA and an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Centre for Environmental Planning & Technology, Ahmedabad, India. She trained at the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley on Leadership Skills for Women Executives in 2015 and is presently pursuing a PhD at University of Amsterdam, in Planning & International Development Studies.

Champaka is Visiting Faculty at Sciences Po, Paris since 2014.

Prior to joining Azim Premji University, she held the position of Head, Urban Development at Egis India Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd., During this time she co-led and worked on several large scale public sector projects including the Development Plan for Greater Mumbai 2034, with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and the Revised Master Plan for Bengaluru 2015, with the Bangalore Development Authority. She has worked extensively in India and abroad.